Writing in the B1 exam – letter, email and essay

Writing in the structure of the B1 exam

In the regulations, the "written part" comprises four modules: listening, reading, grammatical accuracy and writing. This page concerns the module that tests writing – the one in which you create your own text. The Commission gives the time for each module on the exam paper. You can read about the other parts in the guide to the B1 exam.

For many learners, writing is the hardest module, because there are no ready answers to choose from. At the same time, it is the module in which the most depends on preparation: the structure of a letter, polite phrases and a few conjunctions can be mastered to perfection before the exam.

Which texts you may write at B1

The standard of requirements lists fifteen forms of written expression for the B1 level. In practice they can be divided into functional texts, letters and longer pieces.

A "review" and an "essay" at B1 are simple forms: the point is to express and justify your own opinion, not to write a journalistic or academic text.

Formal and informal letters – phrases

Whether a letter should be formal is decided by the addressee in the task: to a stranger, an office, a teacher or a landlord you write formally, to a friend or a family member – informally. Mixing styles, for example "Szanowny Panie" at the start and "Buziaki" at the end, is one of the most common mistakes.

Three rules of writing to remember in a letter:

• After an opening phrase that ends with a comma (Szanowny Panie,), you begin the first sentence of the letter with a small letter. After an exclamation mark (Cześć Tomku!) – with a capital.
• In letters, you write pronouns and polite forms addressed to the recipient with a capital letter: Pan, Pani, Państwo, Ty, Ciebie, Twój.
• After Z poważaniem or Pozdrawiam you do not put a comma – you write your signature on a new line.

You will find more models of letters to offices and institutions in our guide to formal letters.

How writing is assessed

The State Commission passes the criteria for assessing the tasks, together with the scoring, to the exam centres along with the set of tasks – we do not publish them here as a table of points. From our experience of preparing learners, however, we know what the examiner looks at, and teachers assess texts at the mock exam according to the same areas.

Carrying out the task

Whether the text has the right form (a letter, a notice, a description), answers all the points of the task and has the length required by the task. A missed point of the task is a loss that even flawless grammar will not make up for.

Coherence and logic

Whether the text has a beginning, a middle and an end, and whether the sentences are linked by conjunctions and expressions such as najpierw, potem, poza tym, dlatego, z jednej strony… z drugiej strony.

Range of language

Whether you use vocabulary suited to the topic and a variety of constructions – rather than repeating jest, mam, dobry over and over.

Linguistic accuracy

Grammar, spelling and punctuation. The B1 standard requires knowledge of the basic rules of spelling, including capital letters and voiced and voiceless consonants, and the handwriting must be legible.

How these criteria look in practice is shown in our sample B1 letter with commentary – with a learner's text, a list of mistakes and a corrected version.

A writing plan for the exam

A good text in the exam is produced in five steps, and the most important is the first: reading the task carefully.

1. Break the task down into points. Number in the margin everything you are to write about, e.g. 1 – describe the problem, 2 – since when it has lasted, 3 – suggest a date, 4 – ask for a reply.
2. Decide on the form and style. Who is the addressee? Formal or informal?
3. Make a short plan. One paragraph for one or two points of the task. Write down the key words you want to use.
4. Write in simple, correct sentences. It is better to use a construction you know than to risk a complicated one you are not sure of.
5. Leave a few minutes to check. Tick off the points of the task, count the words, check the endings, the commas before że, który, bo, ponieważ, żeby and the polite phrases.

Words that raise the quality of a text

The simplest way to better coherence is a few linking expressions that you master before the exam and then use without thinking.

• Sequence: najpierw, potem, następnie, na koniec, w końcu.
• Addition: poza tym, oprócz tego, co więcej, również.
• Cause and effect: ponieważ, dlatego, z tego powodu, w związku z tym.
• Contrast: ale, jednak, chociaż, mimo że, natomiast.
• Opinion: moim zdaniem, uważam, że, wydaje mi się, że, jestem przekonany, że.
• Summing up: podsumowując, krótko mówiąc, dlatego uważam, że.

How to practise writing before the exam

You cannot improve your writing without feedback – on your own you usually do not see your own mistakes. Write regularly on topics from the B1 catalogue (home, work, health, travel, holidays, free time), always by hand and against the clock, and then give the text to a teacher to check.

We work systematically on a text with the teacher's corrections on the Polish writing course. If you want to check how your text would do in the exam, write it at a mock exam – the teacher will assess it according to the areas described above. The same structures will be useful in the oral part, so by practising writing you are preparing for two parts of the exam at once.